PHILIPPINES ON THE UP

From 184th in November, the Filipinos saw an improvement in their world rankings following their inspiring performance at the recent Asean Football Championship qualifiers in Bacolod City where they picked up 61 points.

Despite started their campaign on a winning note 1-2 against Laos, the Filipinos won three straight matches ¨C 7-0 0ver Timor Leste, 1-0 over Cambodia and 4-1 over Brunei.

Their fantastic run in Bacolod City has allowed them to win a place alongside Laos for the Asean Championships which begins this week in Bangkok and Singapore.

The Philippines, now ranked seventh in the region, and is even one rung higher than powerhouse Vietnam and two ahead of Cambodia.

Asean Football Championship title-holders Singapore stayed on top of the region at 111th, followed by Thailand at 137th while Brunei is at 174th and Timor Leste remained at 198th.

Meanwhile Laos racked up 105 points at the qualifiers to be at 151 st – just ahead of Malaysia (152nd), Indonesia (153rd) and Myanmar (154th).

Philippine Football Federation president Juan Miguel Romualdez expressed delight over the rankings considering that two months earlier they were pegged at 195 th in the world.

“We are still the underdogs in the next tournament (the Asean Football Championship) but at least we now have a team that has learned how to win and will be confident when they step into the field,” said Romualdez.

“Let us not raise our expectations too high because the tournament will be very tough”.